Scholz to lead SPD into snap German election after Pistorius withdraws

Lars KlingbeilsPD leader

We want to go into the next election battle with Olaf Scholz,

the SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil said in advance of a leadership meeting on Monday where the 34-member board will anoint their nominee

This is my sovereign, my personal and entirely own decision,

Pistorius said in the three-minute clip posted on the SPD’s WhatsApp channel

You feel a lot of emotions, but it’s better if you shout at the wall in your office than at the German public,

she said

Friedrich MerzcDU leader

You obviously live in your own cosmos, in your own world,

said CDU leader Friedrich Merz in response to Scholz's upbeat speech in parliament a week after his coalition collapsed

I will become the chancellor."

The party was far behind in the polls, but Scholz was undeterred, saying again and again

Whoever orders leadership from me, gets it,

he famously said when he took office there in 2011.

I think you should be wary of politicians who think about that before their term in office has ended,

he told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper in response to the question of what he hoped would one day be written in the history books about his time in office

I never started this debate, I never wanted it and I never brought myself into the conversation,

said Pistorius

Olaf Scholz is a strong chancellor and the right candidate for chancellor. Olaf Scholz stands for reason and prudence."

Praising Scholz for steering a difficult coalition through what he called maybe the biggest crisis of recent decades, Pistorius said

Boris Pistorius is an outstanding defense minister and we'll be fighting this election to ensure that he can continue to hold this position in the next government, too."

Speaking to the Rheinische Post newspaper on Thursday night, she added

We have in Olaf Sholz an outstanding chancellor,

Pistorius added, praising Scholz for leading his difficult three-party coalition through years of crisis and attacks on democracy